Woovcock. GRALLATORES. SCOLOPAX. 113 
as a savoury addition to the rest of the flesh; in the same 
manner also Snipes are universally treated. Towards the 
latter part of February, when the vernal change of plumage 
commences, the flesh of these birds loses its fine flavour, and 
becomes strong, the skin also turns dry and scurfy, and 
they are rarely fit to be presented at the table; soon after 
which time they begin to pair; and, going off in succession, 
by the middle of April the whole have re-migrated to higher 
northern latitudes, where they breed and pass the summer 
months. During the period of their returning flights, should 
the wind, then blowing from the south and south-west, sud- 
denly veer round to the north-east, we frequently have an 
accumulation of Woodcocks on the eastern coast ; but (as I 
have before observed) they are now out of condition, and 
therefore never pursued by the sportsman with the same 
eagerness as in the early part of the season.—The nest of 
this bird is generally in thickets, and placed near the root of 
a bush or tree, and is formed merely by a slight hole, lined 
with a few dead leaves and stems of grass; and the eggs 
(which, as far as I can ascertain, are always four in number), 
are of yellowish-white, blotched with a pale chestnut-brown 
colour. In Sweden, and other parts of the continent where 
it breeds in abundance, the eggs are now considered a deli- 
cacy for the table, as those of the Green Lapwing have long 
been in England; and to this destruction of the breed has 
been attributed the decrease of Woodcocks so generally com- 
plained of by our sportsmen for some years past. Its geo- 
graphical distribution embraces a great part of the ancient 
continent, as there are few countries within the temperate 
and frigid zones in which it is not known either as a winter 
or summer visitant. It has not hitherto been met with in 
America, but is there represented by a nearly allied species, 
the Scolopax minor of authors. Being a nocturnal feeder, 
the eyes of the Woodcock are large and prominent, in order 
to collect the scattered and indistinct rays of twilight ; their 
situation also is peculiar, being placed far back in the head, 
VOL. II. H 
Nest, &c. 
